Tuttle Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Tuttle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 68.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,782 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare accounts for approximately 2.9% of Tuttle Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Tuttle Capital Management LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 99.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 191 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $370.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $358.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $333.18. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 12.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens upgraded HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $392.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates hospitals and related healthcare entities in the United States. It operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy.

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